1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image pickup apparatus using an image pickup element such as a CCD (charge coupled device) or an image pickup tube, and particularly to a double-eye image pickup apparatus using a plurality of image pickup elements and an imaging optical system such as a lens.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, for the purpose of forming a wide panoramic image or forming a highly minute image, there has been proposed a double-eye image pickup apparatus which has a plurality of image taking systems each comprising an imaging optical system and an image pickup element and picks up the image of a common object to thereby form and output a synthesized image by the use of an image signal input from each of said image pickup elements.
A system for obtaining a panoramic image is such that the plurality of different images of an object area are picked up at a time by a plurality of image taking systems and the same object existing in these images is extracted and the respective images are connected together on the basis of relative position information in the images to thereby obtain a synthesized panoramic image.
On the other hand, a system for obtaining a highly minute image is such that as in the case of a panoramic image, the same object existing in each image is extracted and an interpolating process is carried out on the basis of relative position information in the image to thereby newly obtain a highly minute image. A double-eye image pickup apparatus based on this principle is such that as shown, for example, in FIG. 22 of the accompanying drawings, a left image taking system 1010.sub.L and a right image taking system 1010.sub.R are prepared and the image of an object 1101 is picked up by the left image taking system 1010.sub.L and the right image taking system 1010.sub.R. A left image I.sub.L obtained by the left image taking system 1010.sub.L and a right image I.sub.R obtained by the right image taking system 1010.sub.R are then synthesized by sampling a corresponding point by a CPU 1120 to thereby obtain an output image I.sub.OUT which is highly minute as compared with a case where the image of an object is picked up by a single image taking system.